Steamer Ben Ain

[Guest]

Hello mate,

This just gets better and better every time i look,

All the best ,:bravo: Jay

[Guest]

Thanks Jay, it's always a great shame that I am just getting back into it when I have to leave it again for three months. I am looking forward to making the flying bridge equipment next time home though and this time it will all be visible and not half shut away like the wheelhouse detail is.

[Guest]

bunk please enlighten me further , re your deck caulking, your results look perfect, - and first time too ! i have to do lots of adjustments to get it looking half as good as that ! so let us have your secret ?

i have in the past used black card bonded with PVA to each plank, this is then trimmed and finished and then waxed or varnished, i have used black thread also, , i have also heard about black tile grout being used ? , .... whats your tecnique, what adhesive do you use that is syringed in place and whats your secret, is it still the PVA and black powder paint mix too ?- does this not stain the plank wood grain ?

will post some pictures of a panel i am planking at present tomorrow...you can then give advice !

[Guest]

Hi Guy, I don't know about perfect but I think by the time I have completed my third area of deck and got the hang of it I am actually getting quite pleased with the results.

I was never really keen on the idea of messing around with bits of black paper or string as I just think it is introducing something else into the construction process that makes it more difficult than it needs to be. I decided to give my caulking idea a go based on the fact that I have seen the job done in real life on various ships and realised that to seperate the planking process from the caulking process gave you the chance to concentrate on each in turn and get better results.

I was a bit apprehensive with the first one and learned a lot in a very short space of time. Firstly the spacing of the planks was done with small peices of cut up plasticard which ended up being a bit fiddly and I hadn't sorted out how to get nice neat 90 degree cuts on the plank ends so they weren't as neat as I would have hoped.

After the planks were laid I mixed up my waterproof Resin W (White PVA) with a few grams of black powder paint and made up a thick black paste. Unfortunately I was a bit over enthusiastic with the application and so it took a hell of a lot to sand it all down to the planks again. I had tested the idea out on a sample peice so was confident that the glue would not bleed into the planks but I hadn't banked on how much sanding was required. I was quite amazed though at how well it looked when I got down to the wood and realised what I needed to do to make it better.

My second attempt, the bridge deck, still used small tabs of plasticard and a complete covering of glue but the ideas of how to improve were now coming together.

For the last deck I did I used strips of plastic angle section laid along the planks which made for much easier even spacing of the planks and nice neat plank ends where they butt up to the edging. I also tried the same glue mix but put it into a syringe with a steel tube on the end, which you can purchase all over the place for oiling steam engines etc, and I was surprised at how easily I could squeeze it out onto the joint. This meant that there was far less glue excess to sand off so that part of the process was considerably easier.

To finish off I applied three coats of satin yacht varnish, lightly sanded between coats, and then I will be adding weathering as a final stage of the entire build process.

I am, as I said, now quite pleased with the results of the process and I am even looking forward to doing a bit more. Unfortunately on this model there is only a very small area of planked deck left on the top of the galley so not much opportunity to get to grips with a larger area.

[Guest]

Thanks Bunk, i am getting to the end of the build of the first model so will have to continue to maintain the continuity.....

but i am definately going to give this method a try.... its got to be the best alternative i have !.......and different to to the paper method i am using now, plus even if it is as tricky to do as the paper method -its something new !

We have syringes and steel needles in fine bores at work ( will borrow a few) !

i have two models on the go at present that both have planked decks, and a puffer deck to start, so will give it a go....

the black powder paint, i suppose its a simple black kids style powder paint or is it some exotic batch of artists pigments ?

thanks once again.....

[Guest]

It's exactly the same stuff kids have been using in schools for many years. I bought a big cardboard tube of it from my local art shop and simply asked for "Powder Paint".

If you have any contact with a school I am sure you can get hold of a cup full for nothing as I'm sure my supply will be here long after I am gone!!

[Guest]

will go and swipe the kids art set when i get home !

[Guest]

here is a panel that i planked using the paper / card technique

[Guest]

A live steam coaster is one of those ships we'd all like to have in our "fleets". Your work to this point has been most thourough, the Pics are great!

Im debating a live steam conversion flower class corvette so im going to follow this thread most intently

Keep up the good work!

[Guest]

Thanks for the kind words Russ, a Flower class would look superb with live steam coming from the funnel.

Guy the planking looks excellent, the card is just the right thickness and works well with the wood. I think the caulking method I tried comes into it's own when you get to the intricate jobs around deck fittings and 'joggling' the ends into curves when you can concentrate on the planking job without worrying that the card is in the correct place as well.

I am sure there are people out there who have used card for years and wouldn't dream of doing anything else, it's what you get used to and are comfortable with.

[Guest]

Unfortunately my leave has been messed around quite a bit this time hime so I haven't had a lot of time to get to grips with the Ben Ain. I made the most of what i had though and progressed the bridge unit that bit more. Still not quite finished but getting tantalisingly close and not a lot left to do to it now. The temptation is always to rush it a bit as I approach the end of a leave which is the last thing I want to get into. Anyway here is the latest update.

Moving that bit further the decorative strip was glued around the top outside edge of the bulwarks maintaining a consistent distance from the capping rail and then the flying bridge details could be worked on. The binnacle was made in just the same way as the one inside the bridge and finished with a gold paint with an overcoat of Tamiya Clear acrylic “Smoke” to give it an aged patina and the wheel and telegraph were both painted up, assembled and fitted to the flying bridge. The steps up to the flying bridge were fitted in exactly the same way as the ones were made from the main deck to the bridge deck but in the case with these care had to be taken to ensure that they accommodated the camber of the two decks. Another detail item to be reworked was the life belts to be hung on the bridge bulwarks. The white metal ones were good enough but I was concerned again about unnecessary weight and I thought that I could do better anyway. I turned a piece of dowel down to 20mm and then ran a 12mm drill down the centre of it. I parted off 4mm pieces which gave me nice wooden rings that then had to be smoothed over to give an even and flattened ring shape. These were then whipped with fine cord to make the rope work and the grab handles which gave a much more realistic appearance as well as being considerably lighter than the originals. I then made wooden brackets for them all before finally mounting them on the bulwarks and giving then a couple of coats of satin yacht varnish. The life rings were painted with Humbrol matt enamels and the rope was protected with a coat of matt clear varnish.

Further painting around the bridge unit and the fitting of final detailed items such as hand rails, mushroom vents, canvas dodger stanchions and the mast crutch finally completed the bridge unit. The supplied white metal canvas dodger stanchions proved to be a bit on the soft side so they were replaced with brass items and painted white before fitting to the capping rail. All that remained for the bridge unit at this stage was the fitting of one or two figures and some final careful weathering but this will mostly be done when the entire model is completed and the weathering finish will be applied throughout at the same time.

[ATTACH]15673.IPB[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]15674.IPB[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]15675.IPB[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]15676.IPB[/ATTACH]

[Guest]

Richard,

Thanks for the interesting articles.

You aged the binnacle with Tamiya Clear acrylic 'Smoke'.

I see the Tamiya range lists x19 - smoke and x22 clear.

Am I right in assuming you are mixing these two together?

Regards,

Tony

[Guest]

Hi Tony,

Thanks for the comments.

Tamiya X-19 is Clear Smoke. It is one of thier translucent colours, they do a blue, an orange and a red for instance, useful for such things as vehicle light fittings and the 'smoke' is very usefull for playing around with weathering and metallic effects. Translucent because of course you can see through the paint quite clearly when it has dried and why Tamiya refer to it as Clear Smoke.

I have used it straight from the bottle and mixed with thinners depending on how strong an effect I am after.

[Guest]

Truly stunning build thread I have learned a lot from reading this . I look forward to the next update . Your level of patience is implacable .

[Guest]

My wife always asks why I have so much more patience with my modelling than I do with her!!

I am now not home again until mid December so everything grinds to a halt until then. I really want to get the bridge unit finished then though and make a sizeable impression on the rear accommodation unit. As always though a lot of work to do and I can see myself spending a lot of time on details such as the lifeboats.

I'm glad the thread is helpful for you and can maybe give you some ideas to play around with.